Are you a Foreign Medical Graduate? Here are Five Alternate Career Choices

If you are a doctor born and educated outside the US, and have tried to practice medicine in the US, you know that it is a long and tedious journey. All states have various requirements that need to be satisfied in order to practice medicine, such as studying for and successfully completing the so-called “STEP” exams, as there are three steps to completion.  Additionally, there is a certification by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates that must be completed. Finally, proficiency in English and participating in a medical residency, which can take years, and a great deal of money, completes the requirements. Not to mention the emotional, financial and social toll these processes can take on you if you cannot clear any step or fail to find a good residency program.

Did you know there are several career alternatives that could make great use of your degree, your knowledge and time, and provide a satisfying career outcome here in the US?  Here are the top five, which promise equally lucrative careers as medicine:

• Clinical Research – Clinical Research is the process of determining the safety and efficacy of drugs, devices or diagnostic products intended for human use. The time has never been better for someone interested in clinical research to learn more and become certified to practice. In fact, according to the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics, clinical research jobs are growing faster than average, with an estimated 52,100 more positions available by 2024. The demand for clinicians has never been greater and the clinical trials market is expected to only continue to grow.
• Drug Safety – Drug Safety or Pharmacovigilance (used interchangeably) deals with collection, detection, assessment, monitoring and prevention of drug-related adverse effects in pharmaceutical products. This is another area where growth is expected for a number of reasons:  One, the globalization of the pharmaceutical market has increased the potential customer base for pharmaceuticals; two, the need to meet regulatory standards and requirements means more professionals are required to complete such research; three, in a practical sense, an increased incidence of chronic illnesses translates into increased global drug sales for patients managing their ailments.  These factors and more, show that drug safety professionals are going to be high demand.
• Data Science – Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that provides meaningful information from large amounts of complex data. Your medical background offers you strong analytical skills required for this career. Glassdoor has once again named Data Scientist as the best job in the US.  Statistical analysis, data management and analysis, machine learning, all are job descriptions of positions that unlock the meaning in data to enable our world to function, create new levels of technological advance and enable innovation.  Salaries are also very healthy for starting out in the data science field, with a median base salary of data science jobs is estimated at over $94,000.
• Clinical Data Science -The clinical data scientist is another consideration for one with a medical degree. The clinical data scientist has a comprehensive knowledge of all areas pertaining to the management of data, data delivery, understanding protocols, and is able to interpret clinical study data, and the technologies needed and used on clinical studies from start-up to completion.
• Data Engineering- Today, corporate information, even your personal information is largely stored in the cloud. Data engineering positions are in great demand as the world continues to innovate and design, develop and implement programs to address data challenges like processing billions of instances of data.

Here at Sollers College, we can help you make the transition from medicine to these alternative careers with our Certificate in Advanced Clinical Research, Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance, Clinical Data Science, Data Science or Big Data Engineering.  Our programs also help you fill any experience gap in the industry with our internship programs, projects and hands-on tools.  Contact us to take a free demo session and take the first step toward a new career.